Due Monday September 24.
Using details from the story, "Living in
Two Worlds" on pages 99-101, compare and contrast Marcus Mabry's two "worlds." What is ironic about the impact of
success on his life?
Write about a time in your life when you
tried escape an aspect of your life and exchange it for another. How successful were you and
what was your emotional toll?
In the short story, “Living in Two Worlds,” Mabry describes his split up life. He goes to school with a full scholarship, living a pretty decent life while his family at home are suffering from poverty. His mother and brother live with his grandmother, along with another relative. Mabry explains that when he thinks about or remembers how his family is living at home under bad circumstances, his success is impacted. At first he explains that it has a negative impact on his life because he does not want to go out and party, or even study to be successful while his family is living this other life that he sometimes forgets about. Towards the end of the short story, he feels pride in his family for being able to live and continue the life that they are living with hardships. He claims that it inspires him.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to escape in aspect in my life for the past few years. As I became a teen, I just started to go out with friends and end up coming home at later times especially after I began to drive. Before that, I would spend more time with my mother, knowing that she’s lonely in Long Island because she doesn’t have any friends here. She also barely speaks English, which makes it harder for her, and she was having problems with my father. My sister and I would leave her alone to go out with friends. She would always be depressed when we left her alone, but we both tried to escape the thought of that while we were out enjoying our time and having fun. Finally, we decided that it wasn’t going to work out like this. She’s been offering the idea about her moving back to Turkey, so we finally agreed to it. We didn’t really want her to leave, but we were unhappy with her staying at the same time because she was unhappy. We’re definitely not happy with her being half way across the world, but we are comfortable with the thought that she is better off there with her own family, relatives, and friends. I had a few emotional breakdowns in the past few months which got worse when I remembered how she used to be in the house for long periods of time. I eventually overcame the emotional part of it and thought more into the success. I became successful with time, which I think is the answer to most things in life. I realized that it’s not the end of the world and everyone deserves to be happy at one point or another. I will see her again shortly, which isn’t an issue, and we keep in touch almost every day.
In the story "Living in Two Worlds," Marcus Mabry speaks about the two different lives he's living. The first one where he is living in poverty and the other where he is a student at Stanford University. He feels like he's living a double life because when he's away at school he feels successful but when he has to return home, reality hits him and he has to deal with unemployed relatives, hard-working single mothers and dilapidated bedrooms and kitchens. Unlike at school where he has a full scholarship since the age of nine. What's ironic about this is how he is going down the path of success yet his family isn't. He wishes he could help in time of need but he can't when he's away and they're back home.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when I tried to escape an aspect and exchange it for another was when I was deciding if I should go to school full time, work full time, or both. Of course I wanted to attend college to better myself but I was thinking about taking a semester off and just work and save up that money for school. It would also be nice to take some time off from school. The emotional toll was confusing. One day I wanted to do this then the next I would change my mind. But in the end I decided to attend school full time and work full time. Thankfully it hasn't been that hard for me.
What's ironic about the impact of success on his life is that in the process of him becoming successful, he is spending more and more time away from his family who he wants to help with his education, which leaves him with a lot of guilt. One time in my life when i tried to escape one point in my life and exchange it for another was when i lived in Pennsylvania. I was very lonely and had no friends. I tried to fill this hole by focusing on other things, and an eating disorder ended up filling my loneliness. This obviously took a negative toll on me emotionally.
ReplyDeleteWhat's ironic about this story is that Marcus Mabry really does live two worlds.He lives a rather good life while away from home but when he is home he is back to all the poverty. When he is home he sees the struggles that his mother has to go through in order to make sure his brother has a decent life. When he is at school he sees kids have it pretty much made with there parents basically paying their tuition. He feels guilty knowing that he's at school when he can be home helping out his family. At the end he realizes that even though his family is not the richest he is proud of them because that strives him to work harder.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when I tried to exchange one aspect of my life for another was when I moved. It was hard for me because I had to leave behind all my friends and my school which i liked very much. When I got to the new school at first it was really hard making new friends and I really missed my old ones. It was hard getting use to a new house which i didn't like at all. After a while I started getting use to my new home and school. I made new friends and started to feel more and more at home.
Marcus Mabry’s explains how he has lived in two completely different lives in the short story “Living In Two Worlds”. He talks about living in poverty, going to Stanford University and how they are dramatically different. He received a scholarship and feels like he is becoming successful but is distracted by the fact that his family is living in very poor conditions and he wishes he can help them. Its ironic that his family is living in poverty as he is trying to go to school and be successful. His family's wealth motivates him to succeed in life and try to help them.
ReplyDeleteIn my life, I have tried to escape an aspect of my life and replace it with another. I used to party a lot during the summer but I decided I would replace all of that and instead focus on doing good in school.The lifestyle I was living did not meet the standards I was holding for myself so I decided I needed to settle down and put all my efforts into my schooling and education instead of hanging out and socializing. I believe I was successful with this transition and I was effected in a positive way. The emotional toll I faced was positive because I realized I needed to look towards the future and my career instead of just living in the now.
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ReplyDeleteIn “Living in Two Worlds” Marcus Mabry is the member of a poverty-stricken family that has managed to get a full scholarship to go away to college. In the story his home life and college life are explored. While his college life if seemingly extraordinary, at least to someone of his economic background, his home life is quite different. At home he deals with his troublesome relatives and undesirable living conditions. He experiences many feelings of embarrassment over what he has to live with as well as guilt for trying to living a life away from his family. What’s ironic about all this is that his success, something he sought out in order to help his family, is the very thing that is driving him away from them.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when I tried to escape an aspect of my life and replace it with another occurred around the end of my high school career. I wanted to go to film school but the college(s) I wanted to go to or thought about going to were out of my reach. I wanted to take a semester off from college and focus on two things. I wanted to work a lot of hours at my part time to job to pay for filming equipment and focus the rest of my time building the kind of portfolio that would have gotten me into college fresh out of high school. This would have been a lifestyle of ease for me, as I have found my part time job and movie-making process much more enjoyable than any type of formal schooling. However, I did not trust myself enough to work hard during the time off and I did not want to lose the opportunity to get an early start on education so I replaced the lifestyle of ease with one that, I at least, find harder. Even though I am not getting the full experience by going away and have not selected a major, I feel I have made the wise decision by attending college right out of High School.
Author Marcus Mabry has lead two lives. In one he is a Stanford student on full scholarship actively seeking education and opportunities to become more successful, and the other is more of a past life. Mabry came from poverty and each time he visits home he becomes more and more detached from his roots; a place where his brother is in jeopardy of not graduating high school and expecting a child; Mabry could’ve led this life. Despite Mabry’s success, he feels immense guilt about his escape from poverty. He wishes to help his family, but his success alienates him and the more well off he becomes, the less he knows how to relate and help his poor family.
ReplyDeleteLast Summer I moved in with my father and brother for about six months. He promised me college, an apartment in Brooklyn, a car and general monetary stability. I ended up becoming more independent in those few months than ever before. I basically became the mother, living in a small apartment with two best dude friends. I was very isolated, prepared my own meals, did my own laundry, got myself up, schlepped to a city school at 6 am and wouldn’t return home until midnight. I was exhausted and seriously lacking human connection as well as parental supervision, I dropped out of college and began working full time. In March I moved back in with my mother. The time away from my home and school allowed me to realize that I did crave higher education as well as a place I felt truly comfortable and appreciated.
Coming from a family of poverty never makes life easier because not everything is easily handed over to you. You actually have to work hard to get to where you want to get in life. You must stay in school; make wise choices and work as hard as you can. That is exactly what Marcus Mabry did, which is why he had been on a full scholarship for a boarding school since the ninth grade. Marcus did not give into drugs, make dumb decisions and just give up. Unlike his brother who has been through many jobs, is about to be a nineteen-year-old father and has come across drugs. Although Marcus feels bad that he is turning his life around and becoming successful there is still a feeling of guilt inside him. It seems to not be fair to him that his family is back in California facing family, school and money issues but towards the end of the story Marcus realizes all those issues he has back at home are more or reasons to continue his education and bettering of his life. It’s more of an inspiration to him now.
ReplyDeleteA time in life when I have tried to escape an aspect and exchange it for another is actually very recent. My parents started experiencing trouble in their marriage. They would fight almost everyday, there would always be yelling and someone at the end actually spoke up and asked for the divorce. Even though my mother was now at home alone I tried my best to avoid time at home by working more hours, going to school and then go out with my friends. But I also realized I was putting my feelings before everyone else’s. I am growing up which means I will not always be home but I try my best to stay home some nights instead of partying with friends and catch a movie with my mom or go out to dinner.
In the story "Living Two Worlds" Marcus Mabry talks about his successful life at college and how he is finally leaving dreading freshman, badgering professors and cold classrooms for Christmas break. He's leaving all of those annoying things you can say for his life at home, but his life at home is worse. His mom and brother live with his grandmother and live a life of poverty. Mabry got too school on scholarships since he was nine, and was making a better life for himself which is ironic because his family wasn't making a better life for themselves while he was working his hardest to do so.
ReplyDeleteA time where I've tried to escape an aspect in my life was recently. Towards the end of summer when I moved, stopped dancing after 14 years and all my friends started leaving for their four year colleges everything hit me, and when it hit me hard was when my two best friends left for the same college together without me, because I was supposed to be going with them. Even though I have three extremely close friends still here with me my life has changed so much. I tried to consume myself with things to do to take my mind off moving and not having all my friends here but that only put me into a depression, nothing was helping. Knowing that I can't deal with change well and having three huge changes in my life this summer my family and friends have really helped me lately to get my mind off of the change but only time will really help me.
In the short story, "Living in Two Worlds," Marcus Mabry describes his life at home and his life at school. At home, his family is poverty-stricken. The house is overcrowded, they cannot afford simple luxuries(the one relative sleeps with no blankets), and his brother faces unemployment and prejudice. He is proud of his family for surviving such harsh standards, but ironically wants to push his family life to the back of his head. He is not ashamed, but mostly guilty and feels helpless because he can't do anything to help them out of their situation(as well as some slight embarrassment). When he is at school, he enojys his education and his guilt is put on the back burner, because if he doesn't do that, he cannot "find the logic in studying and partying." (pg 101, paragraph 10) The guilt is always there though. He asks himself, "Why should my life be stable and secure while my brother's is not?" He is plagued by these inner conflicts.
ReplyDeleteI, too experience guilt, helplessness, and embarassment, even in typing about my situation at this moment. Coming to school, going on the computer, drawing, and talking to or hanging out with friends are my escapes from my home life. It's an everyday thing. I try to remember other people have it worse, so I usually don't think too hard about my situation. At the same time it's hard to ignore a horribly belligerant alcoholic in the family or the fact that we can't afford what most people have. It's hard to talk to people about it, even people who are related to alcoholics, because my relative is a different breed of alcoholic. But I can relate in saying I have pride in myself for still maintaining a positive outlook. All the escapes I listed only push it back for a little while, because I have to come home/wake up to it every day. I always remind myself however, that it will get better, and that thought as well as the little things keep me going.
In “ Living in Two Worlds “ Mabry tells us about the two worlds, his family’s house and his college life. When his family suffers from poverty, he has to leave them and go away for college. He cannot accept the fact that he couldn’t help them. The guilt that he feels everytime he goes back home upsets him. However he has no other choice but to go to school for his future and have a decent life. His friends in college motivate him about that he should not feel guilty and he couldn’t really help his family at this age. A time in my life when I tried to escape an aspect and exchange it for another was when I moved to the United States. I was very lonely that I had no friends and family. It was hard for me to get used to the new life style and make new friends because I barely spoke English. I had emotional break downs. However at the end I focused on my school and start thinking about my future.
ReplyDeleteSome of us live successfully and others with difficulities. Yet others live double lives, as for the story "Living in Two Worlds" the author Marcus Mabry is facing difficult decisions in which he attends college at Stanford University. He is surrounded with people that are currently living the good life successfully, with scholarships given since age nine. He feels successful as well. But when returning back home, he gets smacked with reality. Yes, he wishes that he could help those in need which are his relatives. He goes back home to poverty all over and feels the irony of his life.
ReplyDeleteA time in which I wanted to escape an aspect and exchange it was when I first moved to this town. I lived in a really bad area in which you could not even leave your shoes outside because they would get stolen. I felt overwhelmed, stressed, and lonely because well it was a new environment, I had no friends, and did not make any for a while.
Mabry, at Standford, is a student whom is bright and has a succesful future ahead of him. Mabry back at home is a poverty stricken, misunderstood, confused, although brilliant young man who is expected to just work and take care of his mother and brother as she did for him. When Mabry comes home from his school life he automatically feels compelled to feel the negative feelings and stresses of his poverty stricken life and also to even feel bad for leaving his family and trying to be a success even tho his home life is far from a successful one. The irony behind the impact of success on Mabry's life is the fact that he has yet to even acheive any pinnicals of success and he already feels accomplished just by returning home to see how far he has come. He himself feels successful just by returning home and realizing where everyone else in his life is heading or is not for this matter. Mabry at home is just a "student" to the family members as well as his community. To himself the fact that he is just a "student" is his true success. He could of stayed home and done nothing with everyone in his family but his choice to get out at a young age and make something of himself no matter what difficulties he or his family may face, is his true success.
ReplyDeleteI too can relate to Mabry's "two worlds" way of life. I battle daily with guilt and hopelessness due to my home life being very similiar to Mabry's. I was quite miserable when I came out of high school not knowing what I was going to do with my life I sat around a few years. It was not too long until I was over being miserable and I was going to change my life so much that I will wake up each day with a huge smile on my face. I will go after and do only the things I want and feel I need to go after, and I did. I have become quite successful in the last few years, doing things I always knew I could dispite anyone in my life's disdain. Like Mabry, I too have a personally successful world in which I escape to and I also have that depressing, guilt ridden, unproductive home life that is filled with more anxiety and fear that could paralyze even the greatest of minds, that I must return to. Making that change and knowing I am on a successful path is what makes me get up everyday and work for a goal, not the unsupportive, uneducated and fearful voices of those around me.
Marcus Mabry recounts his experiences and feels while oscillating back and forth between the worlds of affluence and destitution in his essay 'Living in Two Worlds'. He tells of the modern furnishments of his on-campus appartment at school, and then of the impoverished conditions his family is forced to live in and that he now only sees on visits home for holidays. He sufferes the cruel duality of his education, at once giving him the means to help the impoverished, and at the same time placing him sharply on the opposite side of the divide from those very people.
ReplyDeleteThe guilt he feels as a result is common. At the age of 29, I set out on a path to higher education. Upon graduation of high school I had no such ambitions. My father never went to college and I felt guilty about surpassing him in life. Why did I deserve what he did not? It was many years and a lot of hard self-apprisal before I even realized what was really driving my decisions.
I am taking the steps to improve my life and dealing with the struggles that that presents, and I feel blessed that I have the fortitude to stand up to these challenges.
In my life i tried to change from fooling around in class to becoming a good student. It was hard in the begining but eventually worked. Friends expected me to be funy in class and get me to do things but I would'nt do it. It was tough. I cleaned up my act and got better grades and did well.
ReplyDeleteKevin Darrah
ReplyDeleteIn the story "Living in Two Worlds", Marcus Mabrys discribes his two lifes that he undergoes as a college student in Stanford University and as a son to a hardworking mother. Both of his "split" lives are somewhat the same, his two lives can compare to each other in an odd way. Him and his mother are both hardworking people and want whats best for him and his family. The difference between his two lifes is that one takes place in a hot area (California) and his other is in a very cold area (New York). Also when he is in California he has to study very hard to keep his scholarship and try not to worry about his family back home even though he does. Whats ironic about the impact of success on his life is that he wants whats best for his family and to be with them but to do that its driving him futher away fomr them. He knows that if he wants a better life for them he has to continue with school and get a good education.
A time in my life when I tried to escape an aspect of my life was when I was in 9th grade. In 9th grade I was working up to 35-40 hours a week while attending highschool and evening school. So days that I didnt work or have school I would go out with my friends carrying no responsibility with me about anything I had to do that next couple of days or so. I would complete block out all of the things I had going on and just try to focus on having a fun time with my friends. In the end I was very successful in that matter of having a great time, I didnt face a emotional toll but it was very stressful to try and worry about many different responsibilitys I had going on in my life.
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ReplyDeleteMany people live two different types of life and yet you see them as who they are rather than where they came from, In the story Living in Two Worlds, Mabry describes his life away in college with a full scholarship and seeking the opportunity to succeed. When he returns home that is when reality kicks in, his mother and brother back home living in poverty. His 19 year old brother soon too be a father, unemployed struggling to find a job, Mabry realizes then that continuing his education will only help him get out of the struggle he has at home.
ReplyDeleteLast year I struggled at a different school, then i lost my job, a few months later the school i was attending suspended me due to my academics, although they would allow to go back to take one class and raise my GPA, i decided to take the semester off to get head together. My mother was struggling paying the bills on her own, looked hard and long for a job sooner or later came across to one and worked full time. As soon as i had enough money to help her pay the bills and maintain myself, i took the chance to transfer out and return to school i attend now and hope to finish then graduate to continue my education elsewhere.
Marcus Mabry's two "worlds has a ironic twist in the sense that growing up from a poor struggling family its hard to forget the fights you have had just to put dinner on the tabel. However once you get the chance to escape you will and thats when it turns hard to rember. Most take things for granted but when you get a chance to look back and truely apricate something it is impowering. Marcus wants to help his family so to help he goes to college which in the end seperates him not just from the distance in space but the difference in living and sucess.
ReplyDeleteNot that I have ever been poor mmy life is similar to Marcus in the sense of wanting to change things that people wouldn't understand or don't see and wanting to escape but when you do the guilt arives. I am one of six children my parents had together so growing up has always been crazy. Money at times had mad things very touf and at other times the crowdedness and bothering of others is enough to drive you insaine. I have tried escaping, one year during high school i was almost never home, from sleeping at friends houses to making sure i was at every school event possible never bringing friends over. However I would go home and relize im missing my siblings grow up and im missing my memories with my family that one day I wount be able to make. That guilt changed to understanding and now i relize that even though things get hard and things change you should always remeber the hard work that was out into it and aprricate every secound of it.
Marcus Mabry writes about living in the polar opposites of his “two worlds.” For part of the time, Mabry is away at school in California at college, making something good of himself by striving towards getting an education while living a comfortable and enjoyable life. But back home in New Jersey, Mabry’s family lives in extreme poverty, sleeping on couches or bare mattresses with barely enough in life to survive at all.
ReplyDeleteA time in my life when I tried to exchange one aspect of my life and replace it with another was when I moved in with my grandmother after we sold our house and my mom fell and broke her ankle and was unable to put any weight on it for four months. I would avoid going home to my grandmother’s by staying out with friends or just driving around to kill time because I didn’t feel like it was my home at all. Everything in life seemed to be falling apart and I felt very lost and alone. But after my mother’s foot healed we found a house of our own and everything started to put its self back together.